Brian

Brian Setzer was on tour with the Stray Cats last year when he noticed the earliest signs of what was eventually diagnosed as an autoimmune disorder.

Now, it seems that disorder may be keeping Setzer off the road.

The Stray Cats said Tuesday they would be canceling their fall U.S. tour as Setzer, 66, battled a “serious illness.” The announcement comes months after Setzer’s diagnosis, although it’s not yet clear if this is a separate health issue.

“I know this affects so many people and I am devastated to have to deliver this news,” Setzer wrote Tuesday on X. “I’ve been trying everything I can to go on and do these shows, but it is just not possible.

“I’ve been looking forward so much to being on stage with my band mates again,” he said, “and playing for all of our amazing fans, and I’m gutted.”

The Stray Cats initially canceled the first two stops on their fall run, in Mount Pleasant, Mich., and Rockford, Ill., before scrapping the whole tour Tuesday. The band said refunds would be available at the point of purchase and did not announce any future tour dates.

Setzer first shared details about his unspecified autoimmune disease in February, writing on social media that, although the illness was not painful, it rendered him unable to play guitar.

“It feels like I am wearing a pair of gloves when I try to play,” he wrote, adding that the disease had for a time hindered his ability to accomplish everyday tasks like tying his shoes.

The artist said that he had been improving as he received care at “the best hospital in the world down the block from me,” the Mayo Clinic.

“I know I will beat this, it will just take some time,” he said. “I love you all.”

The Stray Cats, formed by Setzer, Lee Rocker and Slim Jim Phantom in 1979, have dissolved and re-formed several times over the decades. In 2019, the founding trio reunited to release a 40th anniversary album, aptly dubbed “40,” their first album in a quarter of a century.

On Friday, the band rolled out its first release since then. The pair of singles, consisting of original song “Stampede” and a cover of Eddie Cochran’s “Teenage Heaven,” were described on the band’s website as “loud, upbeat, and unmistakably The Stray Cats.”

“Jim and I cut both songs in Minneapolis at Terrarium Studios,” Setzer said in a statement posted to the site. “‘Stampede’ was an instrumental that I wrote lyrics for. I basically copied the guitar part, which was pretty ahead of its time to begin with, and ‘Teenage Heaven’ is one of the few Eddie Cochran songs that has not been covered to death.”

Rocker said “‘Stampede’ has the drive and intensity that brings me back to our first album,” and “‘Teenage Heaven’ is a classic Eddie Cochran song that we put our [Stray] Cats magic on.”

“The Cats are back and better than ever,” the bassist said.

Times staff writer Alexandra Del Rosario contributed to this report.

Louisiana State fired coach Brian Kelly during the fourth season of a 10-year contract worth about $100 million, athletic director Scott Woodward announced Sunday night.

The move comes on the heels of Saturday night’s 49-25 loss to No. 3 Texas A&M in Tiger Stadium — a second straight loss, and third in four games for LSU (5-3, 2-3 Southeastern Conference).

“When Coach Kelly arrived at LSU four years ago, we had high hopes that he would lead us to multiple SEC and national championships during his time in Baton Rouge,” Woodward said. “Ultimately, the success at the level that LSU demands simply did not materialize.”

Associate head coach Frank Wilson, who also serves as a running backs coach, has been tapped as the interim head coach for the remainder of the 2025 season.

Kelly was hired away from Notre Dame when his predecessor, Ed Orgeron, stepped down following the 2021 regular season.

He has gone 34-14 with the Tigers, even taking LSU to the 2022 SEC title game. But LSU did not qualify for the College Football Playoff in his first three seasons, and was virtually eliminated from contention with its loss to the Aggies.

The playoff was expanded from four to 12 teams for the 2024 season.

“I will not compromise in our pursuit of excellence and we will not lower our standards,” said Woodward, an LSU graduate who was hired to his current post in 2019, the same year the Tigers won their last national title under Orgeron.

Orgeron left after not posting a winning record during his final two seasons.

While Kelly did not coach LSU to a playoff berth, he oversaw quarterback Jayden Daniels’ development into a Heisman Trophy winner in 2023.

“I am confident in our ability to bring to Baton Rouge an outstanding leader, teacher and coach, who fits our culture and community and who embraces the excellence that we demand,” Woodward said.

LSU could have to pay Kelly tens of millions not to coach, but the precise figure was unclear on Sunday night.

“We will continue to negotiate his separation and will work toward a path that is better for both parties,” Woodward said.

Robertson’s absence has been a big talking point for Cardiff fans, who have been perplexed as to why a player who cost the club a seven-figure fee when he joined from Manchester City in the summer of 2024 has not been used.

He was in Australia’s squad for their friendly matches in the United States and Canada earlier this month, but did not feature in either game.

“I think it’s fine for the supporters to talk about him in whatever way they want,” said Barry-Murphy.

“Alex is somebody who I know really well from long before he was at this club [when Barry-Murphy coached Manchester City Under-21s], so all I want for all the players is to be at their best.

“My duty is then to get them into that condition where they can compete against each other. But I have to be very fair and consistent in the way that I judge all the squad once they reach that level.

“That’s the same for Alex as it is for everybody else. If he was in the shoes of the other players, he’d want the exact same thing.”

Meanwhile, centre-back Dylan Lawlor could be back for Saturday’s League One trip to Bolton Wanderers having missed last Saturday’s 2-1 win over Reading with a groin injury.

Fellow centre-back Will Fish is also managing a knee issue, which limited him to 45 minutes against the Royals last weekend.

“Will Fish has an ongoing knee issue which is getting better, particularly when he hits longer passes,” said Barry-Murphy.

“He’s had some discomfort in his knee. But the amount of discomfort is getting less and less, so he’s making good progress.

“Dylan has had a good week of training so far. I think it’s important that he can do certain things that we want from later on this afternoon [Thursday] when we train, and then hopefully he can be available for Saturday.”

Brian Callahan has the dubious distinction of being the first NFL coach to be fired this season.

The Tennessee Titans announced Monday they were parting ways with their second-year coach after starting the season at 1-5 with rookie quarterback Cam Ward, the top overall pick in April’s draft, under center. Callahan was 4-19 overall.

“While we are committed to a patient and strategic plan to build a sustainable, winning football program, we have not demonstrated sufficient growth,” Chad Brinker, Titans president of football operations, said in a statement. “Our players, fans, and community deserve a football team that achieves a standard we are not currently meeting, and we are committed to making the hard decisions necessary to reach and maintain that standard.”

Callahan, the son of former Oakland Raiders and Nebraska head coach Bill Callahan, was a backup quarterback at Concord De La Salle High School and served in the same role at UCLA from 2002 to 2005. The former walk-on earned a scholarship his senior year, when he became the Bruins’ holder on field goal and extra-point attempts.

Callahan entered the coaching ranks upon graduation, winning a Super Bowl as a Denver Broncos assistant coach in 2015. He went on to become quarterbacks coach for the Detroit Lions and Oakland Raiders, then offensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals in 2019.

A hot commodity for teams in search of a head coach in 2024, Callahan was among at least nine candidates interviewed by the Chargers (that job ultimately went to former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh) and one of 10 candidates for the Titans job.

Callahan replaced former coach Mike Vrabel, who had been fired after six seasons with the Titans. This weekend, Vrabel will lead the 4-2 New England Patriots into Nashville to play his former team. It remains to be seen who will be on the Titans sideline as interim head coach.

Detroit defensive back Brian Branch thought he had been blocked in the back illegally without the officials calling a penalty during the Lions’ 30-17 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night.

So as soon as the game ended, Branch took matters into his own hands — or, rather, his own hand.

After the final play, Branch approached the player he later said was responsible for the illegal block, Chiefs receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, and hit him hard on the left side of his face mask with an open hand.

Smith-Schuster fell to a knee but immediately popped up and went after Branch. The two players scuffled briefly, with Smith-Schuster losing his helmet and ending up back on the ground, as other players and coaches tried to intervene.

Talking to reporters after the game, Branch apologized and took responsibility for his actions while also attempting to explain what had set him off.

“I did a little childish thing,” the third-year player said. “But I’m tired of people doing stuff in between the play and refs don’t catch it. Like, they were trying to bully me out there and I don’t think — I shouldn’t have did it. It was childish.”

Asked to elaborate on what had happened during the game, Branch said: “I got blocked in the back illegally, and it was front of the ref. The ref didn’t do anything, and just stuff like that. And I could have got hurt off of that, but I still shouldn’t have done that.”

Branch said later in the interview that he should have taken out his frustrations within the rules of the game “between the whistles, not after the game, and I apologize for that.”

Detroit coach Dan Campbell, right, approaches Lions defensive back Brian Branch, left, in a crowd of players after a game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Oct. 12.

(Jamie Squire / Getty Images)

Branch was fined $23,186 earlier this season for face-masking and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties during a game against the Green Bay Packers. He could face another fine and possibly a suspension for his actions Sunday night, an NFL spokesperson told The Times. There is no timetable for a decision to be made on the matter.

The Chiefs offense and Lions defense were on the field for the final play. As soon as the final whistle blew, Branch appeared to walk right past Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who had extended his hand for a postgame handshake, to confront Smith-Schuster.

“After the game, I was expecting to shake his hand and say, ‘Good game’ and move away, but he threw a punch,” Smith-Schuster told reporters in the locker room. “At the end of the day, it’s a team sport. We came out here, we did our job, we won, and that’s all that matters.”

Smith-Schuster was asked what might have led up to the incident.

“I mean, just me blocking him,” the ninth-year receiver said. “I mean, I’m just doing my job. I play between the whistles and after the game he just took advantage of what he did.”

Smith-Schuster reportedly received a bloody nose from the hit. There were no signs of blood by the time he gave his postgame interview, but Smith-Schuster confirmed that he had been bleeding.

Detroit coach Dan Campbell — who famously declared during his introductory press conference in 2021 that his team would bite off opponents’ kneecaps — told reporters that Branch’s actions were unacceptable.

“I love Brian Branch, but what he did is inexcusable and it’s not going to be accepted here,” Campbell said. “It’s not what we do. It’s not what we’re about. I apologized to Coach [Andy] Reid and the Chiefs, and Schuster. That’s not OK. That’s not what we do here. It’s not going to be OK. He knows it. Our team knows it. That’s not what we do.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Scott Parker’s team have beaten Derby County in this season’s Carabao Cup after entering at the second-round stage, while Cardiff have seen off Swindon and Cheltenham to set up the trip to Lancashire.

“I am really excited to go to a Premier League team in a competition where we have produced really good performances,” Barry-Murphy added.

“It’s a good test for our players. Burnley have a super-talented squad and to test ourselves in that stadium against them will be very good for us.”

Cardiff have fitness concerns over Ronan Kpakio, who came off during the Bradford loss with a foot problem, and Dylan Lawlor, who missed the Bantams’ visit with a groin injury.

“We have a group we really believe in,” Barry-Murphy said. “We will see who is OK and then pick a team.”

“When we look at this game, it’s been a real opportunity for us just to put a mark on the World Cup.

“We made it very clear right at the start that we weren’t just coming here to compete in terms of being a number, we were here to get to the latter stages.

“We are in the latter stages and we believe that our performances have shown the progress we’re making and we want to keep progressing in this World Cup and this is a huge opportunity for us to do that.”

Scotland have made two changes to their front row from the side who beat Fiji last weekend, with hooker Lana Skeldon and tighthead Lisa Cockburn starting.

Elis Martin drops to the bench while Elliann Clarke misses out. Cockburn replaced Clarke during last weekend’s win against Fiji.

Lock Sarah Bonar will win her 50th cap, while Jade Konkel returns to the squad to take her place on a 6-2 bench.

Easson understands the scale of the challenge taking on a Canada side who have registered thumping wins over Fiji and Wales so far in the tournament.

However, he believes his side have been well prepared by their own victories over those two sides in Pool B.

“We’ve played against two sides of two different styles,” said Easson, who will step down as Scotland head coach after the tournament.

“Playing Fiji last week was actually a really good one for us because they were very physical, it was a real physical test, which Canada are as well.

“Canada also play fairly similarly in terms of, believe it or not, offloading more than Fiji, so statistically offload more than them.

“So we’ve had a fair idea of what we’re coming up against. We know the Canadians quite well, obviously a lot of the players play in PWR (Premiership Women’s Rugby) and we’ve watched a lot of their games, so it’s going to be a very, very difficult test, one however that we are very well prepared for.”

Actor Floyd Levine, whose career spanned numerous decades and a variety of projects ranging from films “The Hangover” and “Norbit” to TV shows “Melrose Place” and “Murder, She Wrote,” has died. He was 93.

Levine died Sunday, surrounded by family and “probably wishing someone would bring him a martini,” his daughter-in-law Tracy Robbins announced Tuesday on Instagram. Robbins, who is married to Levine’s son, former Paramount executive Brian Robbins, said Levine was “the best father-in-law, grandpa, and all around jokester.”

Levine began his screen career in the early 1970s and appeared in almost 100 productions. His notable credits also include films “Dog Day Afternoon,” “Bloodbrothers,” “Super Fly” and TV series “Kojak,” “Starsky & Hutch,” “Baywatch” and “Days of Our Lives.” He often played minor characters, including police officers, detectives, tailors, doctors and a crime boss.

A former taxi cab driver from New York City, Levine also collaborated with his son on Eddie Murphy starrers “Norbit,” “Meet Dave” and “A Thousand Words.” Robbins was inspired by his father to pursue an entertainment career and was also an actor, director and longtime producer before he became an industry executive. The father-son duo also both appeared in “Archie Bunker’s Place” and “Head of the Class.” They also worked together on “Good Burger,” “Kenan & Kel” and “Coach Carter.”

“Brian is basically his twin, and we will see Floyd’s grin every time we look at him,” Tracy Robbins added in her Instagram post.

“You all have made my life sugar, and I love you all so much,” he tells loved ones in a video shared by Robbins. “If I could do it, I’d hug you and kiss you all. God bless you all and keep punching.”

Levine was laid to rest on Wednesday. In addition to Brian and Tracy Robbins, survivors also include daughter Sheryl, son Marc and several grandchildren, according to the Hollywood Reporter. His wife, Rochelle, died in May 2022 at age 85.

“I would like to think there’s a casting call in heaven, and you showed up early, script in hand,” Tracy Robbins added in her post. “I will miss him dearly, but i know he’s making the angels laugh already and back together with his beautiful wife Rochelle.”